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Ignoring Talent - since that's a major positive in Dez' favor. I want to see him succeed because I see something very similar in him that I saw in the Playmaker. Passion. Grit. Never-giving up attitude. Recall under Wade how it seemed the whole team had just given up and mailed the season. Dez was out there fighting for inches - not even yards, inches! His production has been awful. His mental lapses have been disconcerting. However, those are fixable things. If he does - I am excited to see what can come out of it. And I am someone that hated the Dez pick. Plus I just don't see the value.

So do you have a mini-mock-off-season in mind? Trade Dez for what? Sign who? Draft what?

I think some of the offensive issues can be placed on Garrett as a playcaller. He seems to consistently ask guys to do things that they either can't do or aren't comfortable with doing yet.

This is where a new offensive coordinator would come in handy. Hopefully, after this season, we'll see that addressed.

Which is fine. But Dez dropping passing that hit him in the hands and chest fall squarely on him.

It's actually interesting to view how the offense staff is approaching this team. They seemingly are attempting to get the pieces to put players in a position to succeed. I bring this up because of Miles. Austin is a talented player for us - no doubt, but on 3 WR downs they are actively trying to put him on the inside to excel. There has been a really poor example of execution by our team. And we are not there yet, but there are defiantly some concepts I like that we are doing on offense.

I agree with Dez. During the game vs the Bears we were having OL problem and Murray was willing to fight. Why not through a few screens, to see if we could get Murray in some space.

Oh through most of the games the play-calling has been suspect. The up-the-gut runs when we are getting blow up in the trenches isn't working.

I was referencing more the skilled positioning of players - not play calling._________________

In Redball I Trust!The price of progress is trusting the process.
Heart. Leadership. Passion. Will.

I honestly don't know what to think. No doubt, he is uber talented. He is big, strong, and nasty. There were times where he looked unblockable. Then there were times where he couldn't give a hoot after he got stopped on the initial block. There were times where he got selfish and tried to break into the backfield at all costs, including leaving his gap unattended.

Seems to have a lot of the problems that Ngata had coming out of Oregon. The question is, will he be able to learn from these mistakes?_________________

I honestly don't know what to think. No doubt, he is uber talented. He is big, strong, and nasty. There were times where he looked unblockable. Then there were times where he couldn't give a hoot after he got stopped on the initial block. There were times where he got selfish and tried to break into the backfield at all costs, including leaving his gap unattended.

Seems to have a lot of the problems that Ngata had coming out of Oregon. The question is, will he be able to learn from these mistakes?

Maybe reason to believe he'll drop?

I think it depends on where he goes. If he can go to a team with a good DL coach who can work with him on correcting some of his flaws, we'll see the next Ngata._________________
^^^El Rammy

According to multiple sources, Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones was forced into firing himself as the general manager of his own team. A group known as LOLND (League of Lawyers Named Dave), managed to break into Valley Ranch and force Jones into retirement. It was later discovered that the gentlemen in LOLND are known as Plan9misfit and The_Slamman.

But who will take over the GM duties (tee hee) for the Dallas Cowboys? Why, none other than Flyingmonkey30, of course! When asked about the decision, Jones had this to say.

"I see a lot of teams going with younger general managers, somewhere between the ages of 30-35. Well, I need to one up everybody else. Which is why, I choose the 19 year old FM30 as the new general manager of the Dallas Cowboys. We are going to start a trend of developing GMs at a young age, and we believe that the rest of the NFL will follow in our footsteps."

The Cowboys go into the offseason with quite a bit on their plate. They need to address the problems on the offensive line, as well as finish the secondary transformation by adding a couple of new safeties. Additionally, the Cowboys have a hole at outside linebacker that needs to be filled either by re-signing Anthony Spencer, or by finding a new running mate to Demarcus Ware in the draft. Only time will tell if/how Flyingmonkey30 will fix the Dallas Cowboys.

We went back and forth on this in the front office. We really did. In the end, we felt that the contract that Anthony signed is fair on both ends. We used the 6 year, $37M contract that Ahmad Brooks signed with the 49ers. We were hesitant to give a new deal to a player who is labeled a "one year wonder", but we felt that Spencer is the best option for us. Based on his run stopping and coverage alone, we believe that Spencer is a top 5 SOLB in the league. Our defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan, was one of Spencer's biggest supporters. If our DC wants him, he will get him.

This was our big splash of the offseason. We know that Barry Church will not be fully recovered from his achilles injury for at least another year or two, and we needed to finish revamping our secondary. One of our biggest weaknesses on defense is the lack of turnovers. Byrd is a ballhawk, safety that has recorded 14 interceptions through 3 seasons and 4 games in his career (at the time i wrote this). Byrd is making a claim to be a top five safety, and we will be getting him for his prime years. We have no problems making Byrd one of the highest paid safeties in the NFL.

WR Brandon Stokley signed to a two year deal worth $2M

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One of the things we have lacked for the past couple of seasons is a legitimate threat from the slot. Brandon Stokley may be 36 years old, but as far as I'm concerned, the man can still play. Stokley works the slot very well, and brings an attitude to the table that we want our younger guys to emulate. He is a hard worker, and is a reliable third or fourth option when we need to convert on 3rd and 5. By the time his contract is up, we expect Cole Beasley to take over as the best slot receiver in the NFL.

CB Cedric Griffin signed a two year deal worth $3.5M

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There is no doubt that Griffin is a talented player. He has just had some really bad luck with his knees. We aren't expecting Cedric to come in here and set the world on fire, but we think that he will bring a veteran presence as our number four corner. Unfortunately, we could not afford to keep Mike Jenkins around. But we think that Griffin will do a fine job replacing him in dime packages. We are confident in Orlando Scandrick to continue as our nickel guy.

The Draft

**Last season, the 7-9 teams picked 11 and 12. Lets assume that the Cowboys are picking 11th in this scenario.**

The Dallas Cowboys have traded the 11th overall selection (1250 points) to the San Diego Chargers for the 18th and 50th picks in the draft (1300 points).

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When we saw that San Diego wanted to move up to our spot, we were pretty excited to make a deal with them. The draft is very deep at areas of need for us, so we were quick to accept a deal to move down seven spots, while picking up a useful 2nd round pick. This will allow us to either jump back into the first round, or up again in the 2nd to get a player that we are really targeting. If nothing else, I am sure we can find someone we like at 50 overall. For the record, San Diego was moving up to select Robert Woods out of USC.

Jones is a player that we really coveted in this draft, and we are ecstatic that he fell to the 18th pick. We took a risk, and it panned out. We like Jones' versatility, but we think we are going to plug him in at center from day one. He is an intelligent young man, and we believe that he has the potential to be a top five interior lineman in the game very soon. By adding Jones, we now have two great, young centerpieces to our offensive line. Look for us to add one more guy, so we can really have a strong, young nucleus going forward.

I think the only person more excited about adding Warmack to our team is his teammate, Barrett Jones. We knew that protecting Tony Romo was our number one priority coming in, and we grabbed the two best interior linemen on our big board. This will give us a left side of Tyron Smith, Chance Warmack, and Barrett Jones. Chemistry is one of the most important things when talking about the offensive line, and Jones and Warmack have been playing next to each other for years now. We want to stick to a hybrid ZBS, and despite Warmack's thick build, he actually fits the mold for what Coach Callahan wanted perfectly.

We love Barry Church, but we can't take the risk of him not being able to return at full strength. To finish our longterm puzzle at the safety position, we needed to bring in a guy who could do it all. I don't believe in "free safety or strong safety". If you want to play on this team, you need to be able to do it all. Williams can. He is a big, physical hitter, but has also demonstrated the ability to cover and create turnovers. We think that Williams is a great compliment to Byrd, and we are happy to pick him up here in the 2nd round.

Whoever says Andy Murray won't succeed in the NFL because of his height, doesn't know what they are talking about. Murray is a phenomenal quarterback, and we are happy to have him here to groom for the future. We have yet to come to terms with Tony Romo on an extension, so we wanted to make sure that we have our guy for the future. We firmly believe that Murray can lead the Cowboys to where we need to be. He has all the tools that we are looking for, and people are going to regret overlooking Andy because of his height.

We are sticking with the SEC, because we need to bring some attitude and toughness to our roster. Williams is a hard worker, which is why we believe he is going to succeed. He may not have the raw talent, and he sure doesn't have the experience. But he has the attitude that says, "I want to be the best football player on the field, and I will do whatever it takes to achieve that." He may not get immediate playing time, but we think that spelling Williams for Josh Brent in at nose tackle will allow Jay Ratliff some one on one time as a five technique. It is an experiment that we want to try, in order to keep Ratliff healthy.

Kenjon Barner is going to be the guy the Felix Jones never was. We want him to come in and be the third down guy. We need a burner who can change the pace of the football game, and we think that Barner compliments Demarco Murray perfectly. He comes from Oregon, so you know that he has plenty of speed. However, his job is not going to be given out to him on a silver platter. We have a plethora of good backs, including Phillip Tanner, Lance Dunbar, and Olawale. If he wants a spot, he needs to earn it, and we think he will.

With the 171st pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select CB Leon McFadden, San Diego State.

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In today's NFL, you can never have too many cornerbacks. As of right now, we only really have four of our cornerback spots figured out. We want to carry at least five or six this year in case of injury. McFadden is a hard working individual, and the kind of player that Jason Garrett and I want on this team.

The main focus this offseason for us was to upgrade the offensive line. We feel that the moves we made were significant upgrades to what we put out on the field last year. Our offensive line went from Smith, Livings, Cook, Bernadeau, and Free to Smith, Warmack, Jones, Livings, and Free. Tony Romo should have plenty of time to get the ball off, and lanes will be opened for Demarco Murray. We still have faith in the right side of the line. We thought that Free had a difficult time because he was covering for Bernadeau on nearly every play. Livings is a significantly better player.

We didn't really make too many other moves to improve the offense, because we think that we have all the weapons to succeed. We did add a veteran receiver in Brandon Stokley, and we are excited to see what he can do in the slot. Otherwise, we expect to see a lot out of Demarco Murray, Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten. No excuses this time around.

Defense

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Our defense was much improved thanks to Rob Ryan. But it could have definitely been better, and we think that we helped improve it even more for the upcoming year. Yeah, we didn't go out and get a dynamic pass rusher opposite Ware, but we felt that Spencer is an integral piece to our defense going forward. If we made a mistake, I will live up to it. But I think that Spencer just needed to be in the right system, and this is it. Expect bigger things from our pass rush, because we think that moving Ratliff to DE is a move that was long overdue. Ratliff will be able to do more damage one on one, and this allows us to keep a big, run stuffing tackle in the middle. We also expect big things from our young defensive ends, Tyrone Crawford and Sean Lissemore.

In the secondary, we feel that the puzzle has finally been completed. Carr and Claiborne are going to continue to get better, and we feel comfortable leaving either one on an island at any time. Now, we also have the safety help that we have been missing for years. Byrd is one of the top safeties already, and is only getting better every year. With Buffalo needing to re-sign Andy Levitre, we wanted to swoop in and take Byrd from right under their noses, and the mission was accomplished. Additionally, we went out and grabbed who we thought was the most complete safety in the draft, Shawn Williams. He didn't get the hype of Eric Reid, Matt Elam, or Kenny Vaccaro, but make no mistake, Williams is the real deal.

Ok guys, obviously a lot will change between now and April, but here is what I have for now. I got bored in between studying for exams, and started thinking about the draft (as usual). Then this started, and it was all just downhill from there. I worked pretty hard on this, and tried to put a semi-entertaining spin on things. Let me know how you think I did. I will be posting stuff like this every few weeks._________________

- You have us cutting Sensabaugh? Yes,he's been pretty average for us these last few weeks but I don't think that warrants being released.

-I think we don't resign Spencer,if he does ask for a similar deal to Brooks than yeah,I'm all up for it,but I honestly think he'll want a HUGE signing and get some team to overpay for him.

-Love the Byrd signing,Church played well through his first four weeks but he's still an unknown,currently the same with Matt Johnson.

-The first thing I noticed in the draft was Warmack's placement.Obviously alot of things can happen from now and April,but everything I'm watching/reading about this guy leads me to believe he won't last that long._________________

- You have us cutting Sensabaugh? Yes,he's been pretty average for us these last few weeks but I don't think that warrants being released.

-I think we don't resign Spencer,if he does ask for a similar deal to Brooks than yeah,I'm all up for it,but I honestly think he'll want a HUGE signing and get some team to overpay for him.

-Love the Byrd signing,Church played well through his first four weeks but he's still an unknown,currently the same with Matt Johnson.

-The first thing I noticed in the draft was Warmack's placement.Obviously alot of things can happen from now and April,but everything I'm watching/reading about this guy leads me to believe he won't last that long.

Warmack is a OG in a deep class, which will lead to him to fall. Only reason I am saying that Jones will be drafted in the 1st round is yes because he is a great player but more specifically he is able to play multiple positions which allows GMs and Coaches to place a higher draft value on him._________________

Let me just say that you guys are vastly overrating Barrett Jones and you're vastlyunderrating Jonathan Cooper and Chance Warmack. Both Cooper and Warmack are regarded as top-25 picks. Barrett Jones, not so much.

Let me just say that you guys are vastly overrating Barrett Jones and you're vastlyunderrating Jonathan Cooper and Chance Warmack. Both Cooper and Warmack are regarded as top-25 picks. Barrett Jones, not so much.

I don't get why you believe that Cooper and Warmack are better prospects than Jones, it's laughable to me. Jones is by far the best prospect on Alabama's offensive line, he is probably a better OL prospect than David DeCastro. Warmack and Cooper are infact top 25 prospects talent wise but when it comes to putting value to them on the draft they will probably be 2nd round picks. DeCastro was regarded as a top 5 prospect talent wise in last years draft but his position put a lesser value on him because you can find great talent at the position later in the draft. Jones can play LT, LG, C, RG, RT in the NFL while he might not be a great LT in the NFL he can play it and get away with it for probably a game or two. The other positions he will be a plus prospect in and will cause his draft stock to be elevated._________________

You're the guy I argued with about Barrett Jones before!! Lets pick up where we left off. List the differences between Barrett Jones and Clint Boling.

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I don't get why you believe that Cooper and Warmack are better prospects than Jones, it's laughable to me. Jones is by far the best prospect on Alabama's offensive line, he is probably a better OL prospect than David DeCastro. Warmack and Cooper are infact top 25 prospects talent wise but when it comes to putting value to them on the draft they will probably be 2nd round picks.

David DeCastro, Kevin Zeitler, Danny Watkins, Mike Pouncey, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Iupati, Alex Mack, Eric Wood, Ben Grubbs, Nick Mangold, Davin Joseph, Chris Spencer, Logan Mankins and Jeff Faine have all went in round one since 2003 as interior linemen. You act like interior guys aren mindless proles and they're not valued at all. Typically one or two interior linemen go in round one and you admitted yourself that Warmack and Cooper are good enough to go that high.

Last edited by Meco on Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:48 am; edited 2 times in total

You're the guy I argued with about Barrett Jones before!! Lets pick up where we left off. List the differences between Barrett Jones and Clint Boling.

Honestly, I have not scouted Clint Boling so I am not able to do so. I have watched plenty of film on Jones though and he is legit. What he does not have physically he makes up for mentally and he is an elite player. We have only seen Warmack play OG, if Barrett Jones was able to play OG in his 4 years at 'Bama we would be talking about if he was the best OG prospect to enter the draft._________________

I just don't think that Jones is that impressive. To me, he's a second round prospect at best and I think it's much more likely he ends up in the third round. Guys who are that average physically just don't get drafted in round one. He lacks the foot speed and athleticism to play either tackle spot, his frame is pudgy, he lacks lower body bulk and strength and he lacks strength overall which leads to struggles anchoring in pass protection and generating movement in the run game. And he plays so soft, his punch isn't violent at all, he doesn't finish blocks, he'll lean on blocks and like I said, he's not a guy who generates much in-line movement. He does other things well but certainly not even close to well enough to make up for that.

- You have us cutting Sensabaugh? Yes,he's been pretty average for us these last few weeks but I don't think that warrants being released.

-I think we don't resign Spencer,if he does ask for a similar deal to Brooks than yeah,I'm all up for it,but I honestly think he'll want a HUGE signing and get some team to overpay for him.

-Love the Byrd signing,Church played well through his first four weeks but he's still an unknown,currently the same with Matt Johnson.

-The first thing I noticed in the draft was Warmack's placement.Obviously alot of things can happen from now and April,but everything I'm watching/reading about this guy leads me to believe he won't last that long.

- Yeah, he has been average. I think that we need to try to get someone who can be above average for a change.

- Hopefully, that doesn't happen. I don't really anticipate it though, because he isn't really a pass rusher.

- This was my favorite move of our offseason really. Byrd is a stud.

- We all thought that DeCastro might even go in the top ten, and wouldn't even fall to us at 14. Look where he ended up. Plus, that was a fairly weak guard class. Now, you have guys like him, Jones, Cooper, Warford, and Bailey, just to name a few. Besides, interior linemen always drop on draft day, for whatever reason. I think that Jones is the only one that goes in the 1st round.

Meco- I personally love Barrett Jones. Love his versatility. He is a very intelligent lineman. Great in pass protection, and a good run blocker as well. I think that he is the best center prospect in the draft, bar none. I have mentioned before, as a pure guard prospect, I think that Warmack is the better guard. But, as an offensive line prospect, I give the nod to Jones._________________

- We all thought that DeCastro might even go in the top ten, and wouldn't even fall to us at 14.

Speak for yourself. I went on record to all but guarantee that he'd fall to us at 14 due to the lack of perceived draft value at that position.

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Meco- I personally love Barrett Jones. Love his versatility. He is a very intelligent lineman. Great in pass protection, and a good run blocker as well. I think that he is the best center prospect in the draft, bar none. I have mentioned before, as a pure guard prospect, I think that Warmack is the better guard. But, as an offensive line prospect, I give the nod to Jones.

I like them both and would draft both of them if given the opportunity._________________Co-Founder: DCRA - No McQuistan, No Super Bowl

You're the guy I argued with about Barrett Jones before!! Lets pick up where we left off. List the differences between Barrett Jones and Clint Boling.

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I don't get why you believe that Cooper and Warmack are better prospects than Jones, it's laughable to me. Jones is by far the best prospect on Alabama's offensive line, he is probably a better OL prospect than David DeCastro. Warmack and Cooper are infact top 25 prospects talent wise but when it comes to putting value to them on the draft they will probably be 2nd round picks.

David DeCastro, Kevin Zeitler, Danny Watkins, Mike Pouncey, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Iupati, Alex Mack, Eric Wood, Ben Grubbs, Nick Mangold, Davin Joseph, Chris Spencer, Logan Mankins and Jeff Faine have all went in round one since 2003 as interior linemen. You act like interior guys aren mindless proles and they're not valued at all. Typically one or two interior linemen go in round one and you admitted yourself that Warmack and Cooper are good enough to go that high.

Yes, I agree that Warmack is a great OG prospect, I am not a guy that will diminish other prospects to make a point for a player I like. We have a great group of prospects in this years draft, while Warmack is a better OG at this time, I do feel it is because Warmack has been able to perfect the position over the years as Jones has had to move around to help his team. I will also say that the separation of Warmack and Jones is not far when it comes to being OG prospect. What will separate the 2 prospects is that Jones is more versatile. The versatility will allow GMs and Coaches to draft Jones over Warmack and Cooper. I also do believe that he is the better OL prospect in this draft because of his versatility. I am not saying Warmack is not a great prospect by any means, I do feel as though Fluker could be a just as good prospect at the OG position as well._________________